Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-25
BITS OF HISTORY OF a GROWING

Everyone familiar with the growth of
Omaha. Neb.. knows that its first intro
duction to the outside world was along
in the latter fifties. as the steamboat
base of supplies Tor all the plains country
along the Platte. clear up into the Rocky
mountains. About this time It became
the territorial capital and so entirely
overshadowed Florence. the old Mormon
town seven miles farther up the Missouri
river, that the houses of that hopeless
hamlet are rolled down and Joined to
Omaha. It is true that Florence was
much more eligibly situated upon high
and extensive plateau, with the Missouri
running against the high bluffs of
Nebraska upon which ii could make no
serious impression, whilst the gently
rising hills sloped back far enough to
accommodate a large city.
At the junction of the Papillon with
the Missouri, where Omaha Is now. a
broad sandtiat interviewed between the
river and the ruggedest ravines and
scrubbly timbered hills to be seen any
where And hardly three miles away
across the Missouri and its muddy bot
toms. was already the metropolis OF
western Iowa. Council Bluffs. and
Florence, were thus foreshadowed by all
human calculations to be the two cities
Of the locality and great ventures We're
made upon which would be the greatest
place.
There was nothing advantageous
in the sight Of the present Omaha except
that the Indians always encamped in the
sheltered raviueS where fire wood was
plenty about the Papillon: and where the
old trails lead down its banks to the
muddy river The latter though always
cutting its banks at this point. and shift
ing lis current. was here easily approach
ed and crossed; and once across the trail
led straight on To Council Bluffs and
through Iowa to the far east. To meet
this state of things the government Otfi-
cials and the frontier traders had also 10
locate there. This and the Mormon
hegira to Utah led to the major portion
Of the goods for all that side OF the Mis-
souri, to be handled at Omaha.
And this in the main led to building the
state capital where now stands the fine
high school overlooking all the city.
During the waE and especially during
the building of the Union Pacific rail
road Omaha went ahead at what was
then a tremendous rate. She accom-
plished in that nine years nearly as much
under the two influences as Wichita has
in the last five with no special feature
aside from the pluck and patriotism of
her loyal citizens to assist her. She
built up Farnham, Douglas and Dodge
streets paralleling each other: 9th, 10th,
18th, 18th and 18th for three blocks, each
crossing them into pretty solid business.
Several large and costly hotels were
built: hundreds OF pretty two
story houses and one story cottages came
into existence with the completion OF
the great transcOntinental road. and
with that event came empty stores and
upper stories and a large number of
dwellings. Mortgages were extended,
forecl0Sed and compromised, and prop
erty did not sell. Still the government
was erecting a fine custom house, a grand
hotel was being built. two new railroads
We're projected northwest and south
west, and the Omaha silver smelling and
refining works, with various other enter
prises. including the great bridge over
the Missouri were then going forward.
All the coal came from Iowa or
Wyoming. No meat was put up
then west of the Missouri or
st. Louis. Corn sold for ten to twenty
cents-in fine. Nebraska products
brought next to nothing. and those ship
ped in were high. And worst of all. as
was then thought. the capital had just
been moved to Lincoln.
The unexpected had happened
Omaha. the camping ground of the In
dams for centuries, had absorbed Flor
ence and neutraIized Council Bluffs, but
she stood like glutted giant, staggering
under her accumulated weight. ResO-
lutte men like Meade. Reddick. Strlck-
land and a host of others addressed
themselves to the task of opening up
new enterprises to keep the city up,
whilst wiseacres pointed to an overdone
and premature city.
And yet the unexpected and
unprotected thing happened.
The merchants and business men Of
Omaha had. up to this period. as well as
had a II renters, based their calculations
upon the high rents and general cost Of
living prevalent upon the far frontier
and incident to a rapidly built city. But
now the conditions had changed;
thousands of the employees formerly en-
gagged in building the city and the great
railroad had to seek other fields. The
new and feeble manufactures could not
develop with the prevalent high labor
and that labor could not work for smaller
wages and pay direct rent for house to
live or board in and indirect rent to its
merchants who paid high rents,
freichts and labor bills in
their turn. The weight of
the crisis fell back upon
real estate from whence it originated. \
surplus of houses cheapened rents. The
business men who felt that they could
no longer do business on high rents or
for the lesser profits based upon lower
rents. closed out and wercgraduaily sue
Cceded by men whose peculiar training.
capital and ambition better qualified
them TO do 50 Lower rents and profits led
to cheaper labor which in turn assisted 10
developed packing houses and all OF the
local industries. These latter led 10 a
more abundant and profitable increase
of farm, dairy and garden produce.
and thus naturally increased the de
m4nd and prlce Of city and county land
Thus Omaha instead Of TecedIng from
her status OF population and commerce
as 1t stood in the alarming period at the
the beginning OF the seventies. through
her peculiar and supposed critical coEdi-
tionS. actually eDlerE@i through them 70
a solid basis Of a least treble her popp-
latIon and possibly ten times her wealth
at the time Of greatest danger. Aen
who at the crisis got mortgaged property
f-r IN. r.1-- ic--..t .l.r MI tn---l. srlll